Amazon EC2 vs Google Compute Engine comparison

Why PeerSpot?

The compared Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google solutions aren't in the same category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #2 in CS , with an average rating of 9.2, and holds a 14.9% mindshare in the category. Google is ranked #14 in ISI , with an average rating of 8.0, and holds a 1.3% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of Google users who would recommend it.

Amazon EC2

Read 74 Amazon EC2 reviews

8,273 Views
7,859 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Google Compute Engine

Read 17 Google Compute Engine reviews

2,485 Views
2,137 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

Amazon EC2

Google Compute Engine

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Amazon EC2 and Google Compute Engine based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon Web Services (AWS), Apache, Zadara and others in Compute Service.

To learn more, read our detailed Compute Service Report (Updated: August 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Compute Service

August 2026

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

ROI

Sentiment score

6.4

Amazon EC2 delivers cost savings and efficiency, enhancing innovation and agility despite higher costs than on-premise solutions.

Sentiment score

5.6

Some businesses achieved over 90% cost savings by switching to cloud and cheaper analytic tools despite budget challenges.

This cost factor has an impact on the project, giving us more possibilities to configure other services and greater financial freedom.

reviewer2879559

Data Engineer I at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees

I would say I have saved more than a week with Amazon EC2 compared to my previous on-premises setup.

reviewer2783892

Architect at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon EC2 report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Google Compute Engine report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.7

Amazon EC2 support is generally effective, though premium support excels, with some challenges in technical integration and communication.

Sentiment score

6.4

Google Compute Engine's customer service is positively rated for responsiveness, with various support tiers and effective online support channels.

I would rate technical support from Amazon a 10, as we have on-prem AWS experts.

Mike Duffy

Consultant at a consultancy with 1-10 employees

Amazon's customer support is much better than other clouds.

reviewer2879559

Data Engineer I at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees

On a scale from one to ten, I would rate the AWS support team a seven.

Pushkar Kodag

Senior Infrastructure Engineer at Principal Global Services

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon EC2 report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Google Compute Engine report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.7

Amazon EC2 is highly praised for its scalability and autoscaling features, contributing to cost efficiency and reliability.

Sentiment score

7.8

Google Compute Engine offers scalable resources and supports diverse workloads, with managed instances aiding easy scaling for businesses.

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon EC2 report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Google Compute Engine report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.1

Amazon EC2 is highly stable, with minimal downtime and issues usually caused by specific use cases or misconfigurations.

Sentiment score

8.2

Google Compute Engine is highly stable, achieving 99.99% uptime and favorable comparisons to other servers with minimal downtime.

Amazon EC2 is stable and more economical.

reviewer2879559

Data Engineer I at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees

It is somewhat more reliable compared to Azure.

Pushkar Kodag

Senior Infrastructure Engineer at Principal Global Services

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon EC2 report

The stability of Google Compute Engine is on par with other servers, akin to using instances from AWS, as no one needs any downtime.

Abhigyan Kumar

Cloud Engineer at Global Payments Inc.

For more quotes and insights, download the Google Compute Engine report

Room For Improvement

Amazon EC2 users seek cost reduction, improved documentation, better UI, seamless integrations, scalability, and more user-friendly tools.

Google Compute Engine needs better user experience, automation, security, multi-region support, and simplified licensing for non-technical users.

I have heard from multiple people that if you have an Amazon EC2 instance running and you stop it, the billing continues unless you terminate the Amazon EC2 instance.

Shakir Bhatt

Senior Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees

I think improvements can be made to Amazon EC2 by increasing the memory, offering more instance types, and including GPUs as mentioned in the keynote.

reviewer2783892

Architect at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

There was not proper documentation on how to install the patch managers and automate patching with System Managers.

Pushkar Kodag

Senior Infrastructure Engineer at Principal Global Services

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon EC2 report

I have noticed a positive impact since the deployment of Google Compute Engine; it is simpler.

Abhigyan Kumar

Cloud Engineer at Global Payments Inc.

For more quotes and insights, download the Google Compute Engine report

Setup Cost

Amazon EC2 offers flexible, scalable pricing with potential savings, though cost management requires strategic planning to address complexities.

Google Compute Engine is cost-effective with pay-as-you-go pricing, but affordability varies by region and usage patterns.

I found it very cheap and a fair price according to what we need.

reviewer2879559

Data Engineer I at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees

The licensing fees for Amazon EC2 are affordable, especially for lower tiers where there are fewer requirements or where the load is very low for product development.

Pushkar Kodag

Senior Infrastructure Engineer at Principal Global Services

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon EC2 report

It is difficult to recommend GCP due to its complex architecture.

Abhigyan Kumar

Cloud Engineer at Global Payments Inc.

For more quotes and insights, download the Google Compute Engine report

Valuable Features

Amazon EC2 provides scalable, flexible, cost-effective cloud resources with seamless AWS integration, security, and tools like Docker and Kubernetes.

Google Compute Engine offers flexible, cost-effective virtual machines with rich features, high availability, and seamless integration with Google Cloud services.

With the cloud, deployment is easy, and within a minute, we can deploy the server and give it to the developers so they can work on it right away after deployment.

reviewer2783892

Architect at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

The main benefits Amazon EC2 provides for me as an end user are cost savings, as they are more OpEx costs rather than CapEx for us.

Mike Duffy

Consultant at a consultancy with 1-10 employees

Amazon EC2 offers flexibility.

Shakir Bhatt

Senior Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon EC2 report

In GCP, there's a custom configuration feature unlike AWS and Azure.

reviewer2602254

Senior Cloud Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees

What I like the most about Google Compute Engine is SSH access and the different price categories.

Abhigyan Kumar

Cloud Engineer at Global Payments Inc.

For more quotes and insights, download the Google Compute Engine report

Categories and Ranking

Amazon EC2

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Compute Service (2nd)

Google Compute Engine

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) (14th)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Cloud Services solutions, they serve different purposes. Amazon EC2 is designed for Compute Service and holds a mindshare of 14.9%, up 8.4% compared to last year.
Google Compute Engine, on the other hand, focuses on Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS), holds 1.3% mindshare, up 1.0% since last year.

Compute Service Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Amazon EC2	14.9%
AWS Lambda	14.7%
AWS Fargate	9.5%
Other	60.9%

Compute Service

Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Google Compute Engine	1.3%
Amazon AWS	13.3%
Microsoft Azure	8.4%
Other	77.0%

Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS)

Featured Reviews

reviewer2879559

Data Engineer I at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees

Flexible virtual machines have accelerated data experimentation and reduced project costs

The best features that Amazon EC2 offers are the availability and the freedom to work with whatever I want. I can configure simpler machines to conduct quicker tests, or I can configure more robust machines according to what the project needs, including machines with a visual operating system. Regarding this flexibility, it impacts my day-to-day work and the projects I develop in terms of speed. If I want to test a project that has JavaScript with Angular and Node.js and I need to install MongoDB, I can configure a machine quickly, tailored for that, and get the data via API from somewhere. If I had to do this on my company machine, I would have to open a ticket with IT and explain the project. Something I could do in one day through my own processes would take two weeks through the company's procedures. Amazon EC2 has had a positive impact on my organization because its configuration offers more options than other clouds. Especially in the IoT area, we prefer to use AWS rather than Microsoft because of the robustness and security, whether in a gateway that we configure, in a firewall, or elsewhere. We adapted better to Amazon EC2.

Read full review

Abhigyan Kumar

Cloud Engineer at Global Payments Inc.

SSH access has simplified my backend deployments but setup and architecture still need improvement

Currently, I have not found much value in the features or capabilities of Google Compute Engine because I only use SSH access, as I have not used many of their services. It is already set up by a different team, and I have been using them as it is a normal case, similar to a normal Linux server. I have noticed a positive impact since the deployment of Google Compute Engine; it is simpler. However, for those who are not very much familiar with Google Cloud, it can, at times, be difficult. Also, the freebies are not much from Google's side, referring to the credits, so that users can become more familiar since there is a limited amount or it is case-dependent. Without trying Google Compute Engine totally, I cannot tell you much about it. From my personal perspective, I suggest that while setting up Google Compute Engine, the process is hard compared to AWS. The complexity increases, especially if we want to access the things over the API; we need to explicitly set up things and can only access the CLI environment of GCP, which is sometimes a hectic task.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Marketing Services Firm

11%

Outsourcing Company

10%

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

24%

Construction Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Outsourcing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	31
Midsize Enterprise	14
Large Enterprise	30

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	9

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon EC2?

My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing was fine. I found it very cheap and a fair price according to what we need.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Amazon EC2?

I cannot think of a way for Amazon EC2 to be improved.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Amazon EC2?

I have been working as a data engineer for four years now. In my first year, I worked at a logistics company where I focused exclusively on data. At Energisa, I work in the innovation area, where I...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Compute Engine?

Regarding the pricing and licensing of Google Compute Engine, when I refer to licensing, it implies the price or a credit-based system. While doing my personal projects, I prefer AWS over GCP and u...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Google Compute Engine?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Google Compute Engine?

My usual use cases for Google Compute Engine involve deploying the backends and APIs only.

See all answers

Comparisons

AWS Lambda vs Amazon EC2

Compared 12% of the time

AWS Fargate vs Amazon EC2

Compared 11% of the time

Zadara vs Amazon EC2

Compared 11% of the time

Apache Spark vs Amazon EC2

Compared 10% of the time

Azure Stream Analytics vs Amazon EC2

Compared 1% of the time

More Amazon EC2 Competitors

Microsoft Azure vs Google Compute Engine

Compared 11% of the time

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) vs Google Compute Engine

Compared 10% of the time

Amazon AWS vs Google Compute Engine

Compared 8% of the time

Bigstep Metal Cloud vs Google Compute Engine

Compared 7% of the time

VMware Cloud Foundation vs Google Compute Engine

Compared 6% of the time

More Google Compute Engine Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon EC2

August 2026

Download Amazon EC2 product report

Buyer's Guide

Google Compute Engine

August 2026

Download Google Compute Engine product report

Also Known As

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, EC2

GCE

Overview

Amazon EC2 is highly valued for its scalability, flexibility, and pay-as-you-go pricing model. It excels in quick deployment and integration with AWS services, helping businesses efficiently manage virtual machines with ease of scaling and resource management.

Designed for enterprises seeking efficient infrastructure management, Amazon EC2 provides diverse instance configurations and powerful security features like encryption and IAM roles. It allows dynamic resource adjustment and auto-scaling, ensuring stability and user-friendly control. While some users find pricing a concern, EC2 remains essential for deploying applications, server management, and migrating systems to the cloud. Enhancements in interfaces, pricing transparency, and integration are desired, yet it's widely used for automation, testing, and AI-driven projects.

What are the main features of Amazon EC2?

Scalability: Adjust resources as needed with auto-scaling capabilities.
Security: Offers encryption and IAM roles for secure operations.
Pay-as-you-go Model: Cost-effective pricing based on usage.
Quick Deployment: Fast provisioning of resources ensures rapid setup.
Integration with AWS: Seamless integration with AWS services enhances functionality.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Flexibility: EC2 adapts easily to changing business needs.
Stability: Reliable infrastructure for constant uptime.
Ease of Management: Simplified virtual machine oversight and handling.
Cost Efficiency: Pay-as-you-go leads to investment optimization.

In industries like finance, healthcare, and retail, Amazon EC2 enables scalable cloud infrastructure, supports ERP applications, and aids in data management with AWS integration. Companies use EC2 for deploying high-traffic web applications, leveraging containerization with Docker and Kubernetes, and enhancing automation in AI and big data projects.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Google Compute Engine provides scalable virtual machines for hosting applications and services with integration into Google's ecosystem. Offering cost-saving options and customizable machine configurations, it supports high availability, effective migration, and flexible resource allocation.

Google Compute Engine stands out by offering seamless integration with Google services and cost-effective options such as Spot VMs and auto-scaling. With SSH access, customizable machine configurations, managed instance groups, and robust API integration, it provides a powerful platform. Enhanced by comprehensive documentation, it supports businesses in their cloud computing and storage requirements. While it is a robust solution, enhancements are needed in SQL query construction, user interface for non-tech users, multi-region support, and container deployment UI. Simplification of security setups and licensing processes, including BYOL, and improvements in hardware availability outside North America could enhance functionality further. Users benefit from its networking capabilities across multiple regions and features like instance templates and managed instances for consistent configurations and high availability, making it a reliable solution for testing, disaster recovery, and migrating workloads from on-premises environments.

What are the key features of Google Compute Engine?

Seamless Google Ecosystem Integration: Offers integration with Google's suite of services.
Cost-Saving Options: Provides Spot VMs and auto-scaling capabilities.
Customizable Configurations: Users can customize machine setups to their needs.
Robust Networking: Supports networking across multiple regions with load balancing.
Managed Instance Groups: Ensures consistent configurations and high availability.

What benefits can users look for in reviews?

Cost Efficiency: Potential for significant cost savings with Spot VMs and auto-scaling.
Scalability: The ability to scale resources up or down based on demand.
High Availability: Managed instance groups ensure reliability and uptime.
Effective Migration Tools: Facilitates seamless migration from on-premises environments.
Flexible Resource Allocation: Users can allocate resources as needed.

In industries such as technology and e-commerce, Google Compute Engine facilitates rapid deployment of virtual machines for hosting applications and services. It supports efficient testing, disaster recovery operations, and workload migration, making it a valuable asset in dynamic business environments that demand reliable cloud solutions.

Google

Sample Customers

Netflix, Expedia, TimeInc., Novaris, airbnb, Lamborghini

Allthecooks, BetterCloud, Bluecore, Cosentry, Evite, Ezakus, HTC, Infectious Media, iStreamPlanet, Mendelics, SageMathCloud, Sedex, Treeptik, Wibigoo, Wix, zulily, Zync

Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon Web Services (AWS), Apache, Zadara and others in Compute Service. Updated: August 2026.

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